Peace Corps` Enduring Charter - Digital Commons @ Georgia Law

PEACE CORPS' ENDURING CHARTER
Loret M. Ruppe*
Peace Corps has recently celebrated its twenty-fifth birthday. Its
success during the past quarter century is due most directly to the
selfless work of more than 100,000 Volunteers who have served the
needs of the people of over ninety developing countries. Its longevity
as a program, however, also arises from the foresight of President
John F. Kennedy in proposing, and the Congress in enacting, in
1961, enabling legislation that has stood the test of time. It is,
therefore, most appropriate that the United States Congress' role in
chartering and maintaining the Peace Corps be acknowledged in this
Issue celebrating the two-hundredth anniversary of the Constitution
and the Congress.
In 1960, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy sounded the call
to the Peace Corps. Standing on the steps of the Student Union, he
asked University of Michigan students:
How many of you are willing to spend 10 years in Africa or
Latin America or Asia working for the U.S. and working for
freedom? How many of you [who] are going to be doctors are
willing to spend your days in Ghana? Technicians or engineers: how
many of you are willing to work in the Foreign Service and spend
your lives travelling around the world? On your willingness to do
that, not merely to serve one or two years in the service, but on
your willingness to contribute part of your life to this country I
think will depend the answer whether we as a free society can
compete. I think we can, and I think Americans are willing to
contribute. But the effort must be far greater than we have made
in the past.
We come to the University of Michigan - surrounded here by
a new generation - to rededicate ourselves to meeting that challenge,
for the challenge to each person to help and to work with their
fellow man is as old as the world, and yet confronts each one of
us in turn.'
Mrs. Ruppe was appointed Director of the Peace Corps by President Reagan
in February 1981. She is the longest tenured Peace Corps Director.
I John F. Kennedy and the Peace Corps Idea, PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER, Dec.
1963, 1, 4.
*
GA. J. INT'L. & CoMP. L.
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By Executive Order in 1961, President Kennedy first established a
temporary Peace Corps. 2 As noted by President Kennedy at the time,
prior to the Executive Order, Senator Hubert H. Humphrey and
Congressman Henry Reuss had strongly advocated establishment of
a Peace Corps program. The Peace Corps Act, sponsored by Senators
Humphrey and J. W. Fulbright in the Senate and Foreign Affairs
Committee Chairman Thomas Morgan and others in the House, was
enacted by voice vote in the Senate and by a vote of 288 to 97 in
the House. President Kennedy signed the Act into law on September
3
22, 1961.
Legislation for very sound programmatic initiatives can become
overly complicated as various members of Congress with differing
agendas affect the final product. Fortunately, this was not the case
for the Peace Corps Act. While it was not without controversy, being
questioned by members of both parties in both Houses of Congress,
it emerged as a relatively clean piece of legislation. Indeed, the Act
was focused enough to maintain the integrity of the vision. It was
sufficiently flexible to provide a framework over the last twenty-five
years under which many generations of United States citizens from
diverse backgrounds have conducted a changing range of activities
addressing the needs of a world constantly in flux politically and
economically. Although Congress has amended the Act significantly,
it has not changed the foundation of the Act in terms of the purposes,
approach, or emphasis proposed by President Kennedy and enacted
by Congress in 1961. Under six Presidents and thirteen Congresses,
there always has been bipartisan support for the basic program authorized by the Act. While the location of the Peace Corps within
the federal government has varied over the years - from the Department of State under the original Executive Order,' to part of the
ACTION agency in the 1970's, 5 and finally as an independent agency
since 19816 - the basic aspects of the effort have departed very little
from the original charter.
Exec. Order No. 10,924, 26 Fed. Reg. 1789 (1961).
Peace Corps Act, Pub. L. No. 87-293, 75 Stat. 612 (1961) (codified as amended
at 22 U.S.C. §§ 2501-23 (1982 & Supp. III 1985)).
Exec. Order No. 11,041, 27 Fed. Reg. 7859 (1962).
Exec. Order No. 11,603, 36 Fed. Reg. 12,675 (1971).
6 International Security Act of 1981, Title VI, § 601, Pub. L. No. 97-113, 95
Stat. 1540 (codified as amended at 22 U.S.C. §§ 2501, 2502, 2503, 2506 (1982 &
Supp. III 1985)).
2
3
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PEACE CORPS
Underlying the program and its accomplishments are a number of
major, innovative and abiding provisions of the 1961 Peace Corps
Act. These provisions define the goals of the Peace Corps program
and establish the concept and legal status of the Volunteer. The
provisions also cover the relationship of the Peace Corps to foreign
relations and the State Department.
GOALS AND ACTIVITIES
Often the purposes sections of a major measure is a "Christmas
Tree" of all the expectations associated with the legislation. Numerous
conflicting expectations must be harmonized in implementation. In
the case of the Peace Corps Act, however, section 2 clearly establishes
three distinct but interrelated goals under one basic commitment and
mechanism:
[T]o promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps,
which shall make available to interested countries and areas men
and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and
willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary,
(1) to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting
their needs for trained manpower, particularly in meeting the basic
needs of those living in the poorest areas of such countries, and
(2) to help promote a better understanding of the American people
on the part of the peoples served and
(3) a better understanding of other peoples on the part of the
American people.7
In his call to service in 1960, presidential candidate Kennedy said
"[e]ach generation must meet that challenge in its own way." Indeed,
each generation has been able to meet that challenge in its own way
because in terms of the first basic goal, the Peace Corps legislation
never dictated who the Volunteers would be, where they would serve,
or what they would do.
On March 1, 1961, President Kennedy delivered a message to
Congress in which he submitted the proposed Peace Corps Act. In
that message the President stated, "[t]he Peace Corps will not be
limited to the young, or to college graduates. All Americans who
7
22 U.S.C. § 2501(a) (1982 & Supp. III 1985).
[Vol. 16:687
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are qualified will be welcome to join this effort." ' 8 The rich diversity
of Volunteers over the last twenty-five years has confirmed that
statement. Although there has been a trend toward older Volunteers
over the years, the young always have played a substantial role.
Volunteers ages thirty-one to fifty comprised 13.2 percent of the
Volunteers and Trainees in 1985 compared to 7.8 percent in 1962.
Volunteers over fifty made up 8 percent of the total number in 1985
compared with 2.9 percent in 1962. Almost 53 percent of the volunteers were under age twenty-six in 1985, while 71.3 percent were
under age twenty-six in 1962. The average age of Volunteers in 1962
was twenty-five. In 1985 the average age rose to twenty-nine. 9
Peace Corps Volunteers may serve only where the host country
government requests that they do so. As of September 30, 1985, of
the 6,264 Volunteers serving, 2,709 were in Africa, 1,892 served in
Latin America, and 1,663 worked in North Africa, the Near East,
or South Asia.' 0 The largest number of Volunteers was in sub-Saharan
Africa where hunger continues to be a problem of dramatic magnitude. 1'
In 1978 Congress amended section 2 of the Act, the statement of
purposes section, to focus activities "on meeting the basic needs of
those living in the poorest areas of such countries." This addition
reflected a congressional preference for the application of resources
within requesting nations.' 2 Under the new language of the Act, the
Agency, in coordination with the Department of State, has had
considerable flexibility in applying Volunteer resources throughout
and within the developing world. Specific congressional action also
I
ESTABLISHMENT
OF THE PERMANENT
PEACE CORPS.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESI-
H.R. Doc. No. 98, 87th Cong., 1st Sess., 2, 3 (1961),
reprinted in 1961 U.S. CODE CONG. & ADMIN. NEWS 1070 [hereinafter MESSAGE
FROM THE PRESIDENT]. It has been true, as forecast by President Kennedy in his
message to Congress on March 1, 1961:
DENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
The benefits of the Peace Corps will not be limited to the countries in
which it serves. Our own young men and women will be enriched by the
experience of living and working in foreign lands. They will have acquired
new skills and experience which will aid them in their future careers and
add to our own country's supply of trained personnel and teachers. They
will return better able to assume the responsibilities of American citizenship
and with greater understanding of our global responsibilities.
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT, supra, at 4.
1985 PEACE CORPS ANN. REP. 32.
o Id. at 18.
Id. at 12.
12
22 U.S.C. § 2501(a) (1982 & Supp. 111 1985).
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PEACE CORPS
has made special geographical efforts possible. For example, the Peace
Corps Initiative for Central America, begun in fiscal year 1984 with
a special $2,000,000 congressional appropriation, embraces Volunteer
efforts to increase the literacy rate among the poor as well as the
13
pool of teachers assisting in the development of small enterprise.
In a single month, today's 5,600 Peace Corps Volunteers affect
more than one million foreign lives. To accomplish this, the Peace
Corps taps a wide range of skills. Around the world about 40 percent of Peace Corps Volunteers are working in education; 30 percent
in food production, food preservation and nutrition; 15 percent in
health, primarily maternal and child care; and 15 percent in rural
4
development, resource conservation and other development projects.'
Graduates of law schools throughout the country have served as Peace
Corps Volunteers and staff around the globe. Moreover, many have
assisted substantially in the development of the local law of developing countries. 1 5 By 1980 health professionals had established health
programs in fifty countries and had helped eliminate small pox from
Ethiopia, tuberculosis from Bolivia and Malawi, and malaria from
Thailand.' 6
As we continue to move forward in meeting our goals through
overseas service, the occasion of our twenty-fifth Anniversary provided an opportunity at home to focus on educating United States
citizens about the Third World through a nationwide series of symposia addressing the United States partnership with the developing
world. These symposia have featured returned Volunteers, host country nationals, local business and community leaders, and the average
citizen who wants to learn more about the opportunity to become
involved. In this context we have been trying to bring the fact of
our interdependence with our world neighbors to the United States
doorstep, where partnership with Africa, our own hemisphere, and
Asia, can be redefined and strengthened in the search for peace.
THE LEGISLATIVELY ESTABLISHED STATUS OF PEACE CORPS
VOLUNTEERS AND STAFF
Volunteers are the engine of the Peace Corps. The creation of the
Peace Corps necessitated an analysis of the legal status of Volunteers.
3
14
15
1984 PEACE CORPS ANN. REP. 5.
1985 PEACE CORPS ANN. REP. 11.
1984 PEACE CoRPs. ANN. REP. 5.
6 Address by Vice President George Bush, Peace Corps 25th Anniversary Celebration at the University of Michigan (Oct. 7, 1985).
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That status is quite different from the traditional employer/employee
relationship, but at the same time, provides a closer relationship than
that which exists between parties to a contract. In his message to
the Congress requesting a permanent Peace Corps, President Kennedy
described the Volunteers' status with these words:
Length of service in the Corps will vary depending on the kind
of project and the country, generally ranging from 2 to 3 years.
Peace Corps members will often serve under conditions of physical
hardship, living under primitive conditions among the people of
developing nations. For every Peace Corps member service will mean
a great financial sacrifice. They will receive no salary. Instead they
will be given an allowance which will only be sufficient to meet
their basic needs and maintain health. It is essential that Peace
Corps men and women live simply and unostentatiously among the
people they have come to assist. At the conclusion of their tours,
members of the Peace Corps will receive a small sum in the form
of severance pay based on length of service abroad to assist them
during their first weeks back in the United States. Service with the
Peace Corps will not exempt volunteers from selective service.
The United States will assume responsibility for supplying medical
services to Peace Corps members and ensuring supplies and drugs
necessary to good health. 7
Historically, reasons existed for Congress to resist the type of
volunteer service contemplated in the Peace Corps Act. In the 19th
century, individuals who had presumptively performed "volunteer
services" often presented claims for compensation to the federal
government. As a result, Congress had previously enacted a statute
prohibiting the government from accepting volunteer service, except
where specifically authorized by law.
Furthermore, some critics thought that by not paying adequate
salaries, the Peace Corps was in conflict with the concepts that, on
the one hand, workers should receive compensation commensurate
with their service and, on the other, that uncompensated service would
lead to an elitest Peace Corps from which many qualified United
States citizens would be excluded."8 Notwithstanding these concerns,
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT,
supra note 8, at 4.
Nomination of Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., to be Director of the Peace Corps:
Hearing Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, 87th
Cong., 1st Sess. 37-38 (1961) [hereinafter Shriver. Shriver, responding to Senator
19861
PEACE CORPS
as enacted in 1961, the Act provided for an unsalaried Peace Corps
volunteer force composed of citizens and nationals of the United
States who were not employees of the United States Government. 9
The Peace Corps Act gave the President, and through him, the
Director of the Peace Corps, discretionary authority to provide Volunteers with living, travel and leave allowances, and with such housing, transportation, supplies, equipment, subsistence and clothing as
may be necessary for their maintenance, to insure their health, and
to permit them to serve effectively. 20 The Act also authorizes the
payment of a "readjustment allowance" to Volunteers for each month
of satisfactory service. 2' This allowance normally is payable at the
22
conclusion of the Volunteer's service.
Morse's challenge that because of the low wage scale, only single well-to-do individuals
could afford to join the Peace Corps, stated that he did not find the wage policy
discriminatory because of the existence of other avenues through which omitted
persons could offer their services to the United States. Id. at 38.
, 22 U.S.C. § 2504(a) (1982 & Supp. III 1985). This section provides:
The President may enroll in the Peace Corps for service abroad qualified
citizens and nationals of the United States (referred to in this chapter as
"volunteers"). The terms and conditions of the enrollment, training, compensation, hours of work, benefits, leave, termination, and all other terms
and conditions of the service of volunteers shall be exclusively those set
forth in this chapter and those consistent therewith which the President
may prescribe; and, except as provided in this chapter, volunteers shall not
be deemed officers or employees or otherwise in the service or employment
of, or holding office under, the United States for any purpose. In carrying
out this subsection, there shall be no discrimination against any person on
account of race, sex, creed, or color.
20 Id. § 2504(b) (1982). The statute states in pertinent part:
"Volunteers shall be provided with such living, travel, and leave allowances, and
such housing, transportation, supplies, equipment, subsistence, and clothing as the
President may determine to be necessary for their maintenance and to insure their
health and their capacity to serve effectively."
21 Id. § 2504(c). The statute reads in part:
Volunteers shall be entitled to receive a readjustment allowance at a rate
not less than $125 for each month of satisfactory service as determined by
the President. The readjustment allowance of each volunteer shall be payable
on his return to the United States: Provided, however, That, under such
circumstances as the President may determine, the accrued readjustment
allowance, or any part thereof, may be paid to the volunteer, members of
his family or others, during the period of his service, or prior to his return
to the United States. In the event of the volunteer's death during the period
of his service, the amount of any unpaid readjustment allowance shall be
paid in accordance with the provisions of section 5582(b) of title 5.
Originally, Volunteers received only $75 per month. Id.
22 Id.
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[Vol. 16:687
Although Volunteers are not generally considered to be government
employees, they are treated as such for purposes of worker's com23
pensation under the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA).
With few exceptions, injuries sustained or diseases contracted while
the Volunteers are serving overseas are compensible. Because Volunteers do not receive wages, the statute provides that for FECA
purposes they are deemed to be receiving compensation at the entry
level of a grade 7 General Schedule employee, which is currently
24
about $18,000 per annum.
In addition, Peace Corps Volunteer service is creditable for federal
retirement purposes in connection with federal employment which
occurs subsequent to Volunteer service. 25 The legislative history of
the Act indicates that Congress wished to emphasize its sense that
former Volunteers would make excellent government employees. 26 As
a further inducement to government service, President Kennedy authorized non-competitive appointment of Volunteers to the federal
competitive service for a limited period of time following the con7
clusion of their Peace Corps service.1
Peace Corps Volunteers are required to take the standard oath of
office prescribed for persons appointed to an office of honor or
profit under the United States. In addition, Volunteers must undergo
a security investigation similar to that required for government em-
ployment .2
5 U.S.C. §§ 7902, 8101-93 (1982); 18 U.S.C. §§ 292, 1920-23 (1982).
5 U.S.C § 8142(c)(1) (1982).
25 22 U.S.C. § 2504(f) (1982). The statute provides in part:
(1) Any period of satisfactory service of a volunteer under this chapter
shall be credited in connection with subsequent employment in the same
manner as a like period of civilian employment by the United States Government (A) for the purposes of section 816(a) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980
[22 U.S.C. 4056(a)] and every other Act establishing a retirement system
for civilian employees of any United States Government agency.
16 H.R. REP. No. 1115, 87th Cong., Ist Sess., subsection 5(f), reprinted in 1961
23
24
U.S. CODE CONG. & ADMIN. NEWS 2851-52.
27 Exec. Order No. 11,103, 28 Fed. Reg. 3571
(1963), as amended by Exec. Order
No. 12,107, 44 Fed. Reg. 1055 (1978), reprinted in 22 U.S.C. § 2504 (1982).
28 22 U.S.C. § 2504(j) (1982). This section reads:
(j) oath of office
Upon enrollment in the Peace Corps, every volunteer shall take the oath
prescribed for persons appointed to any office of honor or profit by section
3331 of title 5, and shall swear.(or affirm) that he does not advocate the
overthrow of our constitutional form of government in the United States,
and that he is not a member of an organization that advocates the overthrow
of our constitutional form of government in the United States, knowing
that such organization so advocates.
1986]
PEACE CORPS
Unlike most foreign service officers and employees of the United
States, Peace Corps Volunteers and staff do not enjoy diplomatic
immunity. They are subject to the laws of the countries in which
they serve, and violations of a foreign country's law can, and occassionally have, resulted in prison terms. The Peace Corps, however,
is authorized to pay a Volunteer's counsel fees, court costs, bail, and
other expenses incident to his or her defense in foreign judicial or
administrative proceedings. 29 As a matter of general policy, the Peace
Corps does not send Volunteers to countries, or assign them to
activities, which would violate the anti-discrimination laws or policies
of the United States.
In general, the Peace Corps has not accepted applicants for Volunteer service who are married unless both spouses are qualified for
Volunteer service, and both can be placed in assignments. The Act
does not provide for the support of a non-Volunteer spouse of a
Volunteer. Although support is available for minor dependents of
Volunteers who actually reside with the Volunteer overseas, no support
is available to a spouse whom a Volunteer marries during service,
or to minor dependents not residing with the Volunteer. 3°
A key element in the success of the Peace Corps is the non-political
nature of Volunteer efforts. In an effort to avoid political ties, the
Peace Corps requests that Volunteers not become involved in host
country politics. As to United States political affiliations, 1985 amendments to the Peace Corps Act ensure that overseas staff appointments,
as well as Volunteer selection, must be on a non-partisan basis. 3'
29 "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, counsel may be employed and
counsel fees, court costs, bail, and other expenses incident to the defense of volunteers
may be paid in foreign judicial or administrative proceedings to which volunteers
have been made parties." Id. § 2504(i).
30
The minor children of a volunteer living with the volunteer may receive (1) such living, travel, education, and leave allowances, such housing, trans-
portation, subsistence, and essential special items of clothing as the President
may determine;
(2) such health care, including health care following the volunteer's service
for illness or injury incurred during such service, and health and accident
insurance, as the President may determine and upon such terms as he may
determine, including health care in any facility referred to in subsection (e) of
this section, subject to such conditions as the President may prescribe and
subject to reimbursement of appropriations as provided in such subsection (e);
(3) such orientation, language, and other training necessary to accomplish
the purposes of this chapter as the President may determine; and
(4) the benefits of subsection (1)of this section on the same basis as volunteers.
Id. § 2504(m).
1 Id. § 2504(a) (1982 & Supp. III 1985).
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[Vol. 16:687
Senator Alan Cranston, the sponsor of that amendment noted in
introducing it:
This provision deals with a problem that has plagued the Peace
Corps through both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Unfortunately, Peace Corps country directorships have sometimes
been viewed as political patronage prizes. These posts are too important to be handed out to unqualified persons. A Peace Corps
country director is a vital link both to the government of the host
country and to scores of volunteers in the field who must depend
on the country director's good judgment and sensitivity on numerous
occasions.
Peace Corps volunteers often serve in precarious positions, hundreds
of miles from any governmental - ours or the host country's support mechanism or protection. They don't live, as do most foreign
service officers, in American compounds or foreigners' enclaves with
special commissary and diplomatic privileges. Peace Corps volunteers
live generally at the level and in the communities of the people they
come to serve and help.
They deserve to know that their country director and support
staff were chosen specifically because of the capacity to be of help
to Peace Corps volunteers and not as a reward for political contributions or campaign work.32
In addition to the non-partisan nature of the overseas staff and
Volunteer selection process, the requirement that staff positions be
of limited duration has contributed to the Peace Corps' success. The
Peace Corps Act contemplates a turnover of both Volunteers and
Peace Corps staff. At the time of the Act's adoption, some legislators
expressed concern that the Peace Corps not become simply another
bureaucracy, but that the freshness of the volunteer force be replicated
by Washington and overseas staff as well. This concept was applied
administratively until 1965, when Congress amended section 7 of the
Act to provide that no staff assignment be for a period of more
than five years. 3 Under special circumstances the Director of the
32
131 CONG. REc. S4036 (daily ed. Apr. 3, 1985).
22 U.S.C. § 2506(a)(2)(A) (1982):
(2) The President may utilize such authority contained in the Foreign Service
Act of 1980 [22 U.S.C. §§ 3901 et seq.] relating to members of the Foreign
Service and other United States Government officers and employees as the
President deems necessary to carry out functions under this chapter, except
that (A) no Foreign Service appointment or assignment under this paragraph shall
be for a period of more than five years unless the Director of the Peace Corps,
under special circumstances, personally approves an extension of not more than
one year on an individual basis.
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PEACE CORPS
Peace Corps can approve a single extension for up to one year.
Furthermore, to prevent a "revolving door" personnel system, section
7 of the Act provides that no individual can be reemployed by the
Peace Corps "before the expiration of a period of time equal to the
preceding tour of duty of that individual.1 3 4 Under this "in and out"
rule, an individual who has served as a Peace Corps employee for
five years must wait an additional five years before he or she again
can be employed by the Peace Corps.
In 1985 the "five year rule" was modified to permit a third tour
in very limited circumstances. Under the 1985 amendment a third
term of duty will be granted if it will advance the original objectives
of the Act of having a flow between overseas and Washington positions, or of maintaining the continuity of functions under the Act. 5
The Act, however, sets limits on the number of individuals who may,
6
at any one time, be serving beyond five years.1
Id.
, Id. § 2506(a)(2)(A), (a)(5) (1982 & Supp. 1II 1985). Subsection (a)(2)(A) provides:
(a) Foreign employment; compensation, allowances and benefits; utilization
of Presidential authority respecting Foreign Service; additional compensation
and differentials; additional governmental employment by person receiving
Foreign Service Reserve or staff appointment or assignment; limitation on
length of employment
(2) The President may utilize such authority contained in the Foreign Service
Act of 1980 [22 U.S.C. §§ 3901 et seq.] relating to members of the Foreign
Service and other United States Government officers and employees as the
President deems necessary to carry out functions under this chapter, except
that (A) no Foreign Service appointment or assignment under this paragraph shall
be for a period of more than seven and one-half years subject to paragraph
(5) and excepi as provided in paragraph (6).
36 Id. § 2506(a)(5). Subsection (a)(5) provides:
(5) Except as provided in paragraph (6), the Director of the Peace Corps
may make appointments or assignments of United States citizens under paragraph (2) for periods of more than five years only in the case of individuals
whose performance as employees of the Peace Corps has been exceptional and
only in order to achieve one or more of the following purposes.
(A) To permit individuals who have served at least two and one-half years
of such an appointment or assignment abroad to serve in the United States
thereafter.
(B) To permit individuals who have served at least two and one-half years
of such an appointment or assignment in the United States to serve abroad
thereafter.
(C) To permit individuals who have served at least two and one-half years
of such an appointment or assignment in a recruitment, selection, or training
activity to be reassigned to an activity other than the one in which they have
most recently so served.
(D) To promote the continuity of functions in administering the Peace Corps.
,
GA. J. INT'L. & COMP. L.
[Vol. 16:687
An added benefit of the original legislation is that it is flexible on
many of the terms of Volunteer service. This flexibility allows the
Peace Corps to develop innovative approaches to volunteerism. In
the Senate hearings on the original legislation, Mr. Shriver indicated
that Volunteers can serve on a "direct government to government
basis; . . . through the private voluntary agencies; ... with universities; . . . with the United Nations; . .. [or] in support of other
'3 7
U.S. oversea operations.
In an effort to attract graduate students to serve as Volunteers,
the Office of Private Sector Development of the Peace Corps is
developing joint graduate programs with several universities across
the country. These programs will allow a student to earn graduate
credit for serving in the Peace Corps. The university will combine
this credit with the student's graduate-level study and apply them
both toward his or her degree. The Peace Corps Volunteer service
would be an integral part of the curriculum, and Volunteers would
remain enrolled in the university during their overseas service.
In addition to the graduate programs, some universities are providing incentives for undergraduate students to serve in the Peace
Corps. Recently, Dartmouth College initiated a Peace Corps internship, which is a pilot program that will send undergraduates to work
for a period of time in Peace Corps administrative offices around
the world. The Peace Corps Overseas Internship Program will serve
as the agency's first test of short-term international service commitments. The internship differs from the joint graduate programs in
that the undergraduate Volunteers serve as staff adjuncts to the Peace
Corps and not as Peace Corps Volunteers.
FOREIGN POLICY - RELATIONSHIP WITH THE STATE DEPARTMENT
AND THE AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Appearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in
1961, Mr. Shriver emphasized: "[E]ven when we work on a direct
government to government basis we supply service at the grassroots
levels. We are not supplying service way up at the top of the government. We are supplying it in the classroom, the field, or in the
hospital." 3 From the beginning, the challenge for Congress and the
17
The Peace Corps: Hearings on S. 2000 Before the Senate Comm. on Foreign
Relations, 87th Cong., 1st Sess. 60 (1961) [hereinafter Hearings].
38 Id.
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PEACE CORPS
Executive was to fashion a program that, while being true to this
one-to-one approach, recognized the sensitive national and international foreign relations context in which activities were to be conducted.
The relationship between the Department of State, which is responsible for the conduct of the United States foreign relations, and
the Peace Corps is a matter of special interest. Originally constituted
as part of the Department of State by Executive Order, 9 the Peace
Corps functioned as an autonomous agency within the Department
until 1971.
However, in the language of the Act, the Secretary of State, under
the President's direction, is responsible for the continuous supervision
and general direction of the Peace Corps. 40 Following passage of the
Peace Corps Act, the President issued a new Executive Order in which
he delegated much of his authority under the Act to the Secretary
of State. 4' At the same time, the Secretary of State delegated essentially
all of his authority to the Director of the Peace Corps, retaining
only the authority to negotiate, conclude and terminate international
42
agreements under the Act, and two other technical authorities.
19Exec. Order No. 11,041, 27 Fed. Reg. 7859 (1962).
Congress described the status of the Peace Corps as follows:
(c)(1)Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to infringe upon the
powers or functions of the Secretary of State.
(2) The President shall prescribe appropriate procedures to assure coordination
of Peace Corps activities with other activities of the United States Government
in each country, under the leadership of the chief of the United States diplomatic
mission.
(3) Under the direction of the President, the Secretary of State shall be
responsible for the continuous supervision and general direction of the programs
authorized by this Act, to the end that such programs are effectively integrated
both at home and abroad and the foreign policy of the United States is best
served thereby.
(d) Except with the approval of the Secretary of State, the Peace Corps shall
not be assigned to perform services which could more usefully be performed
by other available agencies of the United States Government in the country
concerned.
Peace Corps Act, Title I, § 4(c)-(d), Pub. L. No. 87-293, 75 Stat. 612 (1961) (codified
as amended at 22 U.S.C. § 2503(c)-(d) (1982)).
4, Exec. Order No. 11,041, 27 Fed. Reg. 7859 (1962), as amended by Exec. Order
No. 11,250, 30 Fed. Reg. 13,003 (1965).
42 State Department Delegation of Authority No. 85-1IA, 27 Fed. Reg. 9074 (1962).
Section 4 lists the functions reserved to the Secretary of State:
(a) The functions of fixing the rates of compensation of the Director and
Deputy Director of the Peace Corps conferred upon the President by section
4(a) of the Act;
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[Vol. 16:687
The need to separate the Peace Corps from other United States
Government functions existed for a number of reasons including the
following:
1. To bring the Volunteers closer to their host-country counterparts;
2. To separate them, to some degree, from United States diplomatic
missions;
3. To lessen host-country suspicions (unfounded) that the Volunteers were part of United States intelligence activities; and
4. To assure the safety of the Volunteers.
Secretary of State Dean Rusk recognized the need for separation
even before passage of the Peace Corps Act. On May 25, 1961, in
a message to the National Advisory Council of the Peace Corps, Mr.
Rusk stated:
The Peace Corps is not an instrument of foreign policy because
to make it so would rob it of its contribution to foreign policy ...
the Peace Corps is an opportunity for the nations of the world to
learn what America is all about. This is one of the most important
things our country can do in the world today. Outside of the shadows
and struggles of the cold war, outside of the military rivalries which
heighten dangers all over the world, outside of the constant sense
of national advantage which pervades diplomacy, if the Peace Corps
can let other peoples find out what this country is all about, we
shall be surprised to discover4 how many allies America has all over
the world (emphasis added).
1
Within a framework of cooperative action and coordination, the
autonomy of the Peace Corps continues to this day. A succession of
Secretaries of State has reaffirmed its autonomy throughout its twentyfive year history. Most recently, on June 25, 1983, Secretary of State
George Shultz, in a joint cable with the Peace Corps Director to
diplomatic posts, confirmed the status of the Peace Corps:
Peace Corps Volunteers are not U.S. government officials. They
should not be treated as officials, nor asked to perform official
duties other than Peace Corps functions. To the maximum feasible
(b) The functions with respect to the Foreign Service Act of 1946 conferred
upon the President by section 5(f)(l)(B) of the Act.
43
(c) The functions of negotiating, concluding, and terminating international
agreements under the Act.
Cable from Secretary of State Dean Rusk to National Advisory Council of the
Peace Corps (May 25, 1961).
19861
PEACE CORPS
extent consistent with the basic U.S.G. policy objectives of each
mission, the Peace Corps will operate autonomously. . . . The Secretary of State is responsible by law for providing "continuous
supervision and general direction" of the Peace Corps programs to
ensure that they are effectively integrated both at home and abroad,
and to ensure that they best serve the broad objectives of U.S.
foreign policy. This authority is interpreted broadly to leave the
Peace Corps with as much flexibility as possible in its operations
so long as these do not conflict with U.S. objectives and policies."
Flexibility in the original concept, and good will on the part of
all concerned, have enabled the Peace Corps, the State Department,
and other United States agencies to function smoothly under a cooperative mode of operation. Indeed, the present procedure is still
very close to the relationship described by Sargent Shriver in his
original testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Rela45
tions .
In the 1960's the concerns regarding the relationship between the
Peace Corps and the Agency for International Development (A.I.D.)
seemed to focus more on the avoidance of conflicts than on opportunity for creative cooperation. The concern regarding conflict was
expressed in the hearings on the original legislation. During one session
Senator Humphrey asked Sargent Shriver what the relationship would
be between the Peace Corps Country Director and the A.I.D. Country
Administrator. Mr. Shriver responded:
[H]e will coordinate his activity with the aid agency chief of
mission and both of them will be responsible to the Ambassador
who is, after all, the overall person in charge of all activities in
that country.
We anticipate no particular conflict between those two people.
As a matter of fact, in the countries I visited, at least four of our
Ambassadors took me aside and recommended that we establish
our operations in those countries in the way I have just described.
That is one of the reasons why we have suggested establishing
them that way, because the people on the scene in the foreign
countries have recommended this to us.'
Fortunately, Mr. Shriver's prophecies have been accurate. The Peace
Corps' relationship with the Agency for International Development
" Cable from Secretary of State George Shultz and Peace Corp Director Loret Miller
Ruppe to diplomatic posts (June 25, 1983).
,1 Hearings, supra note 37.
4
Id. at
39.
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[Vol. 16:687
has been a growing, creative, and mutually beneficial one. A.I.D.
and other federal departments have provided our Volunteers with a
variety of technical and financial resources. Moreover, the new Peace
Corps/USAID Coordination Committee has improved planning and
coordination of joint development ventures. One successful product
of this partnership is the Small Projects Assistance Program established in 1983. USAID provides up to $40,000 per country per year
for Peace Corps community-level projects dealing in food production,
income generation, renewable energy, or small business development.
To date, many vital grassroots projects have been funded and have
proved successful. The grant amounts, however, have been small
enough to discourage village reliance on United States monetary
assistance.
During the hearings on the Peace Corps legislation in 1961, Senator
Frank Church made the following statement: "What it comes down
to is that whatever direction now applies to other aspects of the
Foreign Aid program at the top levels will apply to Peace Corps in
its work." 47 Mr. Shriver responded, "[t]o a great extent, but not
completely, ' 48 noting that it might be helpful and advisable for the
Peace Corps to go into a country where there is no foreign aid
program. Mr. Shriver added:
The Peace Corps is not primarily or certainly not solely an instrument of economic, of foreign economic, policy. In one country
I had the temerity to suggest that it was possible that a number of
Peace Corps people could serve in a particular country for a number
of years and that the gross national product might go down. I do
not think that we can equate Peace Corps operations with the
economic requirements of a country. The Peace Corps is more of
a cultural, an educational, and social operation than it is an economic
one. So that it is possible that in some countries of advanced
economic development, the Peace Corps could be very helpful.49
FUNDING FOR VOLUNTEER EFFORTS
During its first twenty-five years, the Peace Corps has received
funding largely through congressional appropriations approved by the
President. Quite expectedly, many members of Congress were not
41
Id. at 66.
- Id.
- Id.
19861
PEACE CORPS
warm to the idea proposed in the original legislation that the Corps
be financially supported in this way.50 The Peace Corps, however,
also has benefited from the contributions of the private sector and
other federal agencies.
Federal funding, which began at a level of $30 million in 1962,
rose to $128.6 million in 1985. Over twenty-five years, Congress
appropriated $2.2 billion in support of more than 100,000 Volunteers
serving in the Corps. It is important to note, however, that the
Volunteers have contributed much more to the developing nations
than their modest allowances and these aggregate appropriations re-
- During the March 1961 hearings on the nomination of Sargent Shriver, while the
Peace Corps was still a pilot effort, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee,
Senator Bourke Hickenlooper, confronted Shriver with his concerns:
Senator Hickenlooper: I am not necessarily opposed to this idea. As I said
a while ago, it is an intriguing thing, but here we are asked to confirm you,
and I have no doubt you will be confirmed. But we are asked to confirm you
for something that is still nebulous. We do not know what the extent of it is.
We do not know what the obligations are that will be assumed, and the
fact of the matter is that the agency is indefinite in its organization, its scope,
or what it will do.
I think that this situation places this committee and the Senate in a rather
unusual position. I do not know whether it is unique or not.
Mr. Shriver: I have been led to believe it is not unique.
Senator Hickenlooper: I think probably we have appropriated money on a
number of occasions in the dark, but I do think that those occasions should
be minimized as much as possible.
Mr. Shriver: Well, I do not think Senator Hickenlooper: I just think that it would be well if we had a little
more specific outline of the basis and pattern so we would know what we are
getting into here or whether we are buying a 'pig in a poke' at the moment.
Mr. Shriver: Well, I tried to answer any questions you have about any
specifics ....
But I would say, as I said at the beginning, that for an agency
that has been in existence only 2 weeks it is difficult to have detailed answers
to every question that might arise over a period of a year or more.
Senator Hickenlooper: Yes. And, of course, that goes right to the heart of
the question of whether or not we are buying a 'pig in a poke.' It may be a
good thing, and I think probably in the long run it will be, but for an agency
that has only had a life of 2 weeks, the lack of definiteness of the outline Mr. Shriver: Well, maybe, Senator, if you will give us a few pokes in the
future we won't be too much of a pig.
Senator Hickenlooper: A few what?
Mr. Shriver: I say if we get a few pokes in the future maybe we won't be
too much of a pig.
Senator Hickenlooper: Well, I do not know. But I know most agencies get
their share of pokes, and also lumps occasionally, and you will probably be
under surveillance from time to time concerning the extent of this program.
Shriver, supra note 18, at 25-26.
GA. J. INT'L. & COMP. L.
[Vol. 16:687
flect. For that reason, the Peace Corps is one of the most costeffective federally supported efforts.
There are plenty of potential Volunteers. United States citizens are
willing to serve as evidenced by the fact that during a two week
period in 1985, 7,000 individuals responded to a national appeal for
Volunteers to help in Africa.' The lack of available funds, however,
limits the number of Volunteers the Corps can place in service. In
1985, there were 13,975 applicants, but less than one fourth, 3,452,
could be placed.12 When more funds can be made available, the
experience and training capability of the Peace Corps will ensure that
those placed will serve effectively.
Speaking from the Rose Garden on April 23, 1985, President
Reagan delivered a parting message to a number of Peace Corps
Volunteers headed for Africa. In his remarks he said:
Since we first learned of the crisis in Africa, private donations
have been flooding in, and they now total over $100 million....
But as we see here today, America is giving more than money.
Last January Peace Corps Director Ruppe announced a recruitment
drive ...
for Africa. All across America there were people rushing
to volunteer, willing to interrupt their lives and devote the next two
years to meeting the emergency."
Congress recently has amended the Act to reflect a policy of
maintaining a 10,000 member Volunteer Corps.14 The Agency has
submitted a plan to Congress on how it might reach those levels. 5
By following this proposed plan, the Peace Corps hopes to meet the
10,000 Volunteer goal by the early 1990's.
A 1984 Presidential Task Force draft report on international private
enterprise stated the need for action in blunt terms. "The plight of
the developing world poses a threat to our own security. A contented
1985 PEACE CoRPs ANN. REP. 12.
52 Id. at 20.
53 Address by President Ronald Reagan to Peace Corps Volunteers from the White
House Rose Garden (Apr. 23, 1985).
22 U.S.C. § 2501(b) (1982 & Supp. III 1985).
5 INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION ACT: CONFERENCE RE-
99th Cong., 1st Sess., 131 CONG. Rnc. S10,326 (daily ed. July 30, 1985) (statement
of Sen. Cranston). Expansion is to be tailored first to the needs and request for assistance
from host countries; second, to the pool of qualified volunteers; third, the capacity of
the Peace Corps to provide adequate training and support to and placement of Volunteers;
and fourth, to budgeting realties given the critical deficit problem and competition for
PORT,
scarce resources. Id.
1986]
PEACE CORPS
United States cannot live unscathed in a world of hunger and famine.
Nor can the U.S. live unharmed in a world of seething unrest and
56
unstable governments that hunger and famine creates."
While increased appropriations clearly would be necessary to reach
the 10,000 Volunteer level, the Peace Corps does not rely solely on
its own appropriated funds or those of other agencies to meet its
needs. The Peace Corps Act wisely contemplates cash and "in-kind"
contributions. In 1964 the Agency established a Peace Corps' Partnership Program to provide United States citizens with the opportunity
to participate in small scale, urgently needed projects undertaken by
Volunteers and their host country communities. Coordinated by the
Volunteer living and working in the overseas community, Partnership
relationships can include a cultural exchange of letters, music, photos,
local artifacts, and other items reflective of cultures and lifestyles.
Donors who contributed to the Partnership Program in 1985 included
260 United States citizens, school groups, corporations, foundations,
churches, and returned Peace Corps Volunteers.
7
Since 1982 the Peace Corps has been an independent agency.1
Legislation establishing the Corps' independence was originally sponsored in the House by the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, Clement Zablocki, and by Congressman Don Bonker.
The Senate sponsor was Alan Cranston, who advanced the legislation
with the active support of Senators Pell and Percy. At the time of
consideration of the conference report on the legislation, Senator
Cranston stated:
Mr. President, I wish for the Peace Corps renewed vitality, strength,
and dedication to the principles upon which this wonderful program
was founded. In adopting this conference report, the entire Congress
is joining in these sentiments.
The Peace Corps has always represented the best that is within
the American people - the willingness to give of themselves for
the betterment of mankind. I hope that with the separation issue
behind us, the administration and those of us in the Congress who
believe so strongly in the idealism from which the Peace Corps
draws its greatest strength will unite in support of this program. 8
1984 White House Presidential Task Force Draft Report on Hunger.
International Security Act of 1981, Title VI, § 3601, Pub. L. No. 97-113, 95 Stat.
1540 (codified as amended at 22 U.S.C. §§ 2501-1, 2502, 2503, 2506 (1982 & Supp.
56
57
II1 1985)).
11 127 CONG. REc. S15,298-99 (daily ed. Dec. 15, 1981) (statement of Sen. Cranston).
706
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L.
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As we move forward from our twenty-fifth Anniversary, the course
of the Peace Corps will be determined by the changing needs of the
peoples of the developing nations and by the commitment of the
United States. We will adjust our recruitment and related efforts
accordingly to provide Volunteers who can meet these changing needs.
While change is inevitable, the underlying formula of the Peace Corps
is proven, the commitment of the United States to the effort is
established, and our people-to-people friendship with so many nations
is certain to grow stronger.
The Peace Corps Act and all that has flowed from it is an excellent
example of the leeway our Constitution provides us to react to
changing times and changing circumstances. When the Constitution
was adopted, one phase of colonization was drawing to a close, and
another - the colonization of what we now call the Third World
was just beginning. At that time the United States relations with
foreign countries were largely conducted by traditional means, through
accredited representatives, and almost entirely with the recognized
powers of Europe. When the Peace Corps began its operations in
1961, elements of colonialism still remained. It is an interesting, if
quaint, anomaly that some Peace Corps Agreements under which
Volunteers are helping in the mid 1980's still bear the name of the
former colonial power. This holdover from a past era of foreign
relations of the United States is a reminder that the Peace Corps
has played an important role during the transition between the colonial
past and the independent present.